Micro-Mechanisms and Modeling of Ductile Fracture Initiation in Structural Steel after Exposure to Elevated Temperatures

This paper aims to (1) study ductile fracture behavior, and (2) provide a computational tool for predicting fracture initiation in ASTM A572 Gr. 50 structural steels under axisymmetric tension loading are heated to elevated temperatures and cooled down in air and in water. Employing the post-fire test results reported in the literature for A572 Gr. 50 steels, this paper carries out coupon-level finite element (FE) simulations to capture the stress and strain fields and explore the micro-mechanism of post-fire fracture in ASTM A572 Gr. 50 steels, respectively. Numerical results show that the effects of the experienced temperature and cooling method on fracture parameters are more significant for the steels cooled after being heated to temperatures from 800 °C to 1000 °C than those from 500 °C to 700 °C, due to microstructural changes during the cooling process. Air-cooled and water-cooled specimens show an improvement and a significant reduction in ductility, respectively. A modified void growth model (VGM) is proposed by introducing two additional temperature-dependent functions, through which the effects of elevated temperature and cooling method on fracture behavior are quantitatively analyzed. Limitations of this study are also discussed.

The Effects of Non-Proportional Biaxial Loading Paths on Ductile Fracture Initiation: A Void Growth Analysis

The effects of non-proportional biaxial loading paths on ductile fracture initiation toughness are studied in this paper. To this end, the growth of a cylindrical void (hole) located in front of a mode I plane strain crack has been studied using large deformation finite element analysis (FEA). A specific microstructural feature of a steel alloy was thoroughly studied by having a single void positioned at a fixed distance from the crack tip and void that was equal to 10 times the diameter of the void. In particular, the non-proportional biaxial loading path effects on the crack tip blunting, void-growth, ligament reduction and near-tip stress fields are investigated computationally. Under small-scale yielding conditions, one proportional loading and two non-proportional loading paths are applied to the modified boundary layer (MBL) model. It is observed that the non-proportional load paths have a marked effect on the void growth, crack tip blunting and their interaction. By applying the criteria for the coalescence of the crack tip and void, the ductile fracture initiation toughness is estimated. It is shown that the ductile fracture toughness is dependent on loading paths, and the T-stress ratios. Results from this study are of relevance to ductile fracture assessment of components or pressure vessels that operate under non-proportional biaxial loading conditions.